This was SUvCh NUvCh SVCh FC Hound's Kashmir who died at age 14.5, quite apparently in his sleep, three years ago while I was at work. Kasi fathered just two litters before leaving Sweden at the age of five but he is in many, many pedigrees of dachshunds around the world. And he was the father of just one litter after he came to the States, but that litter of seven, my O litter, consisted of seven very talented and highly accomplished dogs.

Thank you, Marie Gadolin - kennel Hound's, for sending me Kasi and his old Scandinavian bloodlines when I needed him most!

After running errands, I attempted to take a short nap this evening. Since I hadn't fed the dogs yet, it didn't work too well. I noticed the after-the-storm light through the window was interesting. So I got up from the couch and one at a time invited the dogs to take my place for an impromptu photo shoot. Didn't have to twist their paws, Owl and Taya had been trying to sleep on me on the couch anyway! First photo is Owl, next two are Taya, then Nexus, and Viljo. They are good dogs, good friends really, and I very much enjoy them all.

Owl, 10, smiling. It is a typical Owl expression these days.

Taya, 2, looking very serious as she often does.

Taya managed to get Owl's ball. Whatever Owl has, Taya wants!

Nexus, 12, resigned and saying please just take the photo so I can eat.

Viljo, 4, intently watching Taya. They love to romp and wrestle. I didn't know how much V needed a dog who would really play until we got Taya.

Today, I took Owl for an evaluation of his reproductive status. We visited Dr Robert Hutchison of Northview Animal Clinic in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Dr Hutchison is an expert on canine and feline reproduction. He has many, many years of experience and has shared his knowledge with breeders in seminars all over the country. I figured it would be worth the 3.25 hours drive north for Owl to be assessed by this guy.

The bad, but not surprising, news is that Owl has a fertility problem. Dr Hutch said that normal canine sperm counts run about 10 million per pound of dog's body weight. Owl weighs 20 lbs so we would expect something like 200 million sperm. Owl's count was 42 million.

One would think that 42 million of anything would surely be enough!

But it gets worse. Of the 42 million sperm, 58% were immature. Dr Hutch explained that, like other glands in the body, the testes are 'used to' a certain level of production and that Owl was likely much more fertile when he was younger. So, in an effort to 'keep up the numbers' in the ejaculate, the testes are throwing out sperm that have not yet matured.

This is the reason, I was told, that Owl was not able to settle either Taya or Tasha this spring.

Now for some good news:

1. Owl has sperm. I was half-afraid there wouldn't be anything in there.

2. The motility of the sperm was good.

3. The morphology of the sperm was largely normal.

4. Ultrasound showed no masses or significant lesions in the testicles.

5. Ultrasound showed an enlarged prostate but the amount of enlargement is moderate and well within normal for a dog Owl's age.

6. It was also clear that Owl does not have an infectious process going on; there was no blood or pus. Prostatitis is a leading cause of acquired infertility so this was very good to hear.

I had shown Dr Hutch the semen evaluation from a different repro specialist done February, 2013. Unfortunately, the report was rather vague. I repeated what I'd been told and what I saw, which I had also relayed to Diane Webb in an email at that time.

"He said it looked pretty good. About 70% were what he called normal sperm 'which would be fine for live cover or fresh chilled. But for freezing and storing and the expense that goes with it, I think we can do better. I would like to get the numbers up to around 90% for freezing and I think we can do it.' He also showed me the little bit of blood in the bottom of the spun-down tube; the blood that had made it into the sample before bleeding became obvious. He said that the freezing process hemolyzes red blood cells and hemolyzing RBCs will destroy some sperm so another reason to clear up the prostate. He gave me a script for 30 days worth of Cipro. Interestingly, under magnification it appeared that some sperm were attempting to impregnate the small clumps of red cells. Good luck with that! He did comment on how good Owl's physical condition is." ~ Patt Nance in an email to Diane Webb, February 12, 2013

Three months later, based on what I had seen and been told, Babe was bred to Owl. Babe did not conceive. But she was six years old. We thought Babe had the problem. : (

Again, though, no prostatitis today, (if there ever was). Instead, Dr Hutch said it looks like we have a hormonal problem related to aging. I asked if these hormonal changes in Owl are normal. He slid me a look sideways for effect and said. "Oh yes. Very normal. Owl is something like a 60 year old man." I am pretty sure the good doctor Hutch is in his 60s!

The rest of the good news:

7. Owl's libido is fine.

8. He received an injection of testosterone with pre- and post- level blood tests and the results were good.

9. He is not obese and he doesn't smoke. ; )

I had had to make a decision, before the ultrasound, blood tests, and medications, how far I am willing to go to try to obtain a litter from Owl. Considering everything: his health, vitality, and energy level which are all truly extraordinary, his sound conformation, size, intelligence, eagerness to work at anything, his voice, coat quality, pedigree, I could go on and on...

I decided to do what seems reasonable. Not less. Not more. Dr Hutchison agreed with this. He said, "I am a logical, reasonable person, too. So let's do what is logical and reasonable and see what happens." I was able to connect with that statement.

Owl has been started on Megace 5 mg daily for 21 days, then 5 mg weekly. I was surprised by this. Megace is a progestin, a synthetic progesterone. Really? Megace? Yes. See Progesterone: a male hormone for more information. I learn something new every day!

He was also started on a male fertility supplement in capsule form called, um, Male Fertility Supplement, manufactured by Coast Science. Doc said he began prescribing MFS after a conversation with a human urologist. Sub-title on the container is "The Male Prenatal." Well, I can hope so. Owl is to get one capsule of the powder on his food each day.

Dr Hutch wants to re-evaluate in eight weeks. So we will. Please hope with me for a positive outcome!

Owl's appointment for semen evaluation with Dr Hutchison in North Ridgeville, Ohio has been moved to Tuesday afternoon, June 24. I would VERY much like to have a litter or two with Owl as father. If that isn't to be, then we have some big decisions to make. I will post evaluation results on Tuesday.

I like black snakes. Or maybe I don't like them so much as I appreciate them. But I knew that a snake had decided to make its home between the inside and outside walls of my outbuilding. And if Blacky was home when my dogs were out, their verbal and non-verbal body language was speaking volumes. I figured it was a matter of time before the dogs got this snake as they have gotten others in the past. I was hoping I would get to it first and be able to cart it down the road. I have done it before.

But lately I have not been above wishing that the dogs would just get it, kill it, and get it over with...

This afternoon shortly before leaving for work, I went out to bring the dogs in. They had been out for about 15 minutes. Walking in, I saw Owl and Nexus pulling against each other on either end of the largest snake they have caught yet. And I saw that it was dead. I didn't know whether to think "Poor snake" or "YAY!" So I alternated.

Then I thought, as I often do, well let me go and get my camera. I came back and took some photos.

Owl

Owl again. And look who he is pulling against.

Nexus is something like a sleeper dog. He is mostly calm, quiet, and laid back - Until such time as there is work to do! I have made the mistake of underestimating Nexus on more than one occasion. To me, he is the canine model for not judging a book by its cover.

Nexus, shaking the snake hard.

I got caught up in observing the dogs' behavior. Suddenly, I remembered - work!

I barely had time to wash my hair and get dressed. As I pulled out of the driveway, I saw a hen turkey with five or six little ones traipsing along on the road behind her. As I watched, she climbed the road bank and the little ones were flapping and fluttering and looking like sparrows in their endeavor to follow mama up the hill. It reminded me of a toddler having to work extra hard to keep up with a long-striding adult. Suddenly, I remembered again - work!

I had not had time to dry my hair, so off and on I hung my head out the window on the hour drive. I clocked in with four minutes to spare. As I walked into the conference room, they looked at me. "What are you doing here?" I said, "I'm working." They said, "No you're not."

I had forgotten that I'd moved myself from working today to working on Thursday when I only had three RNs scheduled!

Oh man.

Well, I needed to go get some groceries anyway.

Back home when I was pulling into the drive, I saw a large doe come out of the woods and stand beside the road for a couple of minutes. I waited to see if other deer were coming behind her. This time, I said to myself, you do have time to watch the animals!

This segment of behavior was fascinating. As if on unseen signal, both dogs stopped, let go and simply stared intently at the snake. It appeared that they were waiting to see if it moved. Maybe even hoping that it would! This was about the time it hit me that I had a job to get to. (Not!)

Sometimes you just have to laugh. After their digging and wall-wallowing snake expedition, I made some coffee and walked into another room. Taya, eyes closed, was lying with ball tucked in safe. I thought of Robin Mousseau's photos of her Trouble and got my camera. When Taya heard me click it on, she opened one eye. haha! She closed it again. Then Owl, coveting the ball and whining softly the whole time, came and said to me, would you PLEASE make her give me the ball? (Nine other balls and toys scattered around and he HAD to have the one Taya had.) Owl will tear down walls for snakes but he won't go for a ball that Taya has! That's just been the case the past couple of months. Taya is now a mature, well, you know, little bitch. Owl may be driven but he's not dumb. : )

A dog's olfactory ability is pretty darn amazing. I can't smell a snake in a wall.

Owl's 10th BIRTH day may also be his LAST day. That snake in the wall of the outbuilding? It is still there. I am not brave enough to post a photo of what the dogs, led by Owl, have done to the wall on the inside. Now I am ready to get rid of that thing, the snake, not Owl (yet) whatever I have to do. Well, come to think of it, so is Owl.

No harm done to the outside wall but then I didn't give Owl much opportunity.

May as well just say it. Taya is not pregnant. I am very (VERY) disappointed but I am not going to whine about it. I have been disappointed before and good things came later.

There are several reasons why having a litter of puppies is so important to me.

First, ultimately all I do in the dog world is routed through the perspective of a breeder. I do not have many litters but breeding is the lens through which I see just about everything else in dogs. In August, it will be five years since I had a litter, and they were born in Mississippi. The last litter born here was in July 2008. Yet everything I have done in the past five years, including acquiring Viljo from Finland and Taya from Denmark, and all the trials and tests, has been with a view to breeding my interpretation of excellent, fieldworthy, standard longhaired dachshunds.

Longhairs have their place in the working world and I am committed to seeing them there. As I said to Cliff Shrader this spring, "no puppies, no future." Well, no puppies this time.

Second is that I was not breeding this litter for a pup for myself. I have four dogs and that is plenty for me to manage as they should be managed. But I have had several people on board the wait list for puppies - for months. These are tracking and performance homes with really good people. It is not fun to disappoint them.

There is one more thing. Owl, Oslo, and Odin are the only possibilities to continue the eight generations that I have worked on, and with, for decades. I would really hate to lose that connection. And they are going to be 10 years old in June.

I had a repro vet do a semen eval on Owl in April, 2013. The evaluation was fine. I have no reason to doubt in the spring of 2014 that Owl is not capable of producing a litter. We will see what happens with Tasha.